Anna Laetitia (Aikin) Barbauld was born in 1743 into a Presbyterian Dissenting family (dissenting against the Church of England). She was barred from entering England's better schools and universities because of the family's beliefs, but her father taught at Warrington Academy for boys where Anna was allowed to attend classes with her brother. When unable to find suitable teaching material to educate her nephew and adopted son, Charles, she wrote the four volumes of Lessons for Children, designed for children as young as two years old. The books were remarkable at their time because they were not religious and they included stories about familiar situations discussed in simple dialogues, a method called "chit-chat." The books were printed in large type with wide margins making them "reader-friendly." The books are intended for the use of a mother and her child learning to read.